Apparatus for deoxidizing iron ores



2 Sheets Shet 1.

"(No Model.)

J. BRIDGFORD. A APPARATUS FOR DEOXIDIZING IRON ORE. N0. 292,788.

Patented Feb. 5, 1884.

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J. BRIDG-FORD. v

APPARATUS-F0R-DEOXIDIZING IRGN ORE. I

No. 292,788, v Patented Feb. 5, 1884,

Fig Witnesses. w nvenzor,

" L I Zi- N. PETERS. Fhuwl-ilhognphar, Washingmn, a c

NETED- STATES;

JOHN nnrneronn, or ALBANY, NEW YORK.

- APPARATUS FOR DEOXIDIZING iRoN ORES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 292,788, dated February 5, 1884.

- Application filed March 6, isss. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN BRIDGFORD, of the city and county of Albany,.'in the State of New York, have invented certain. new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus for Deoxy idizing Iron Ores, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in furnaces for deoxidizing iron ores by cementation, as an antecedent step to their. manufacture into merehantable iron; and. it consists in arranging a series of cementating-retortsin a structure that is divided by means of horizontal partitions into a series of heat-chambers, which also serve as fines for. conveying the heated products of combustion upwardly in a zigzag direction, so as to. bring them more perfectly. into contact with all parts of the retorts, each of said heat-chambers being providecl with a suitable damper for controlling the admission of the heat-currents thereinto,.

and with lateral flues, whereby the spent heatcurrents maybe conveyed from any of said heat-chambers directly into a smoke stack; and it also consists. in providing each of the retorts with a dischargeropening, so arranged that when the deoxidizing-furnaceis located over or near a balling-furnace, as I prefer to arrange it, the said retorts will discharge their ore-s directly into the feeding-hopper of the balling-furnace in such manner that the refuse carbonaceous matter will be carried off by the ascending heat-currents, as they escape from the open feeding-hopper, while the deoxidized ores fall into the balling-furnace.

The. objects of my improvements'are, first, to provide the means for controlling the heatcurrents that surround the retorts in such manner that the greatest intensity of said currents will be exerted at or. near the lower parts of said retorts; second, to afford facilities for throwing any or all'of the heat-chambers into and out of use at any moment; third, to provide suitable means for discharging any portion of the ores from any or all of the retorts directly into the balling-furnace; and, fourth, to afford facilities for separating and carrying off the refuse particles of the carbon used for deoxidi'zin'g the ores- These objects I attain-by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and in which-,

Figure l is a longitudinal sectionof a balling-furnace, withmy deoxidizing-furnaee attached; Fig. 2, a transverse section at the line X X 5 Fig. 3, a horizontal section at the line Y Y, and Fig. 4:: an inverted plan view of the under side of my deoxidizing-furnace.

As represented in the drawings, A is the balling-furnace provided with a feeding-hopper, a, overwhieh a removable cover, a, is fixed for covering the opening therethrough when required. The said balling-furnace is connected to the smoke-stack B by means of the flue C, which is provided with a damper, c, for opening and closing the passage through said flue, as occasion requires.

Directly over the feeding-hopper a the deoxidizingfurnaee D is erected, and, as I preferablyconstruct it, it is made in cylindrical form, supported on the columns (1. Said furnace contains a series of vertical retorts, E, which may have their cross-sectional 'form made like either of the forms shown in Fig. 3,

or in any other suitable form that willpermit the heat-currents to circulate around all the exterior sides of said retorts.

The furnace D is provided with a lining, d, of fire-brick or other material that will retard the radiation of heat from the shell of said furnace. A series of horizontal partitions, d are formed across the furnace D from the lining d to a solid central core, 61 so as to divide it into a series of separate annular heat-cham bers, F. 'All of the aforesaid partitions, excepting the upper two, are provided with openings d for the heat to pass from one chamber to the one next above it; and in order to effect the better distribution of the heat the said openings are arranged alternately in respect to each other at opposite sides of the'furnace. Each of said openings has a cutoff, (1 adapted to slide over it, so as throw any of the heat, chambers out. of use, as occasion mayrequire. 'From each of the heat-chambers F a flue or pipe, G, leads into the smoke-stack B, for the purpose of carrying off the spent heat from any of said chambers whenever occasion. requires.

damper, g, by means of which eithen ofisaid Each of said flues is provided with a' I fines may be opened and closed, as necessity demands. A, door or man-hole, f, is out into each heat-chamber for the purpose of affording facilities of examining the parts of the retorts that are located in the several compartments.

Near the top of the furnace D a dead-air chamber, F, or other suitable noirconducting device is placed, for the purpose of protecting the upper part of the retorts and the charging-hopper from becoming sufficiently heated to ignite the carbonaceous matter contained therein. A branch pipe, H, leads from the line G into the lower heat-chamber, F, for the purpose of conveying the heated products of combustion from the balling-furnace A into the chambers of the deoxidizing-furnace D, and the said branch pipe is provided with a damper, h, for the purpose of opening and closing the passage therethrough. A charging-hopper, I, is formed at the top of the deoxidizing-furnaee D for the purpose of containing a supply of pulverized ore and carbon for feeding therefrom the retorts E, the upper ends of which always remain open into the said charging-hopper, so that the requisite charges of .ore and carbon will be fed by gravity into said retorts. The lower end of each of the retorts E is formed into a spout, c, and the several spouts are arranged over the feeding-hopper a of the balling-furnace in such manner that the ore contained in any of said retorts can be discharged directly into the said hoppers. A-revoluble plate, J, fixed beneath the spouts e,will serve as a means for retaining the ore in the retorts E. When said plate is employed, it should be provided with an opening, j,which can brought into coincidence with the mouth of any one of spouts 6 when required for drawing the charges from the corresponding retort; but, when preferred, each of said spouts may be provided with a separate and independent cut-off, similar to the cut-offs d, hereinbefore described, and shown in the drawings.

The operation of my improved deoxidizingfurnace is as follows: The retorts E and charging-hopper I being filled with comminutcd ore and powdered charcoal, or other finelypulverized and light carbonaceous substance, the damper c is turned crosswise in the flue C, and the damper h is turned so as to open the passage through the pipe H and force the heat-currents that escape from the ballingfurnaee A to pass ,upward into the heatchambers F of the furnace D, In passing through said chambers, the heat-currents are forced, by reason of the alternating positions of the openings (1, to pass circuitously from side to side ofthe furnace in their ascending course before they escape through any one of the fines G that is open, and-affords the first means of escape into the smoke-stack B. By t-his means the heat-currents will be forced to circulate all around the exterior surface of the retorts E; but its greatest intensity will be extended in the lower chambers against the lower parts of the retorts. The materials contained in the retorts should be maintained at a sufficient heat to cause the oxygen contained in the orc to combine with the carbon in the deoxidizing substances confined therewith. As soon as the ore in the bottoms of the retorts is reduced to a proper condition to be worked, the damper h should be closed and the cover a removed from over the feeding-hopper a, so as to permit the heat-currents to escape from the furnace A. out of the said feeding-hopper, as indicated. by the arrows in Fig. 2. Then the bottoms of the retorts are opened-either successively or simultaneously-to let the lower portions of the contained charges fall from the retorts E, and, in the act of falling, the descending charges will meet the ascending heat-currents from the hopper a, and the said currents will carry off into the atmosphere the light particles of carbon, while the deoxidized ore will be carried by its gravity into the furnace A.

I am aware that the waste heat from a balling-furnacc has heretofore been utilized for deoxidizing iron ore contained in vertical retorts. Therefore I do not broadly claim an apparatus for that purpose; but

I do claim as my invention- 1.. A dcoXidizing-furnace containing a series of vertical retorts provided with means for separately controlling the discharge of ores from any one of said retorts, and having a series of communicatinghorizontal heat-chainbers arranged one above another and sur rounding said retorts, in the manner and for the purpose specified.

2. In a deoXidizing-furnace containing a series of vertical retorts provided with means for separately discharging part or all of the contents of any one of said retorts, and a series of horizontal heatchambers arranged one above another, and provided with connecting openings for the passage of heat from one chainberto the one next above it, the said openings being placed alternately at opposite sides of the furnace, as and for the purpose specified. r

3. In a'deoXidizing-furnace containing aseries of vertical retorts, and a charging-hopper that is common to all of said retorts, asherein set forth, adead-air chamber or other heat-retarding device surrounding the upper part of said retorts for the purpose of preventing the ignition of carbonaceous matter contained in the upper part of the retorts and the charging-hopper, as herein specified.

4. In a deoXidizing-furnace, the combination, with a series of vertical retorts provided with means for controlling the discharge of ore from any one of said retorts, as herein set forth, of a series of horizontal heat-chambers arranged one above another, and adapted to cause a circulation of the heat-currents around all of said retorts, the said chambers being provided with communicating openings placed 292,7ss a alternately at opposite sides of said furnace, for forcing the heat-currents in a zigzag direction, and cut-offs for optionally throwing the uppermost chamber or chambers out of service, as herein specified.

5. In adeoxiding-furnace provided with a series of horizontal heat-chambers, F, having openings d from one chamber to the next above, cut-offs d, substantially as described,

for optionally controlling said openings, and 10 means, substantially as specified, for conducting the spent heat from each chamber into the smoke-stack B, as herein described.

JOHN BRIDGFORD.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. Low, S. B.- BREWER. 

